Overview
- A single-engine Piper PA-28 went down in wooded parkland near a Bowie townhome community late Saturday night after departing Ocean City, New Jersey bound for Montgomery County Airpark.
- Rescuers were alerted by an automatic iPhone crash notification and a multi-agency ground and aerial search located the wreckage at about 3:45 a.m. the following day with all three occupants pronounced dead.
- Authorities say the aircraft likely belonged to a Montgomery County flight school and may have been on a training flight at the time of the crash.
- The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration have opened an active investigation that will review the plane’s maintenance history, weather, air-traffic communications and pilot records and have not released a probable cause.
- Israeli media and officials reported the three victims were Israeli nationals and the Israeli Consulate plus ZAKA are assisting families with identification and repatriation while local officials say no one on the ground was injured.